THE VIOLINIST | Omeleto

A violinist plays. A violinist plays music on a train, with the aim of entertaining the passengers enough for money. However, everyone is preoccupied with their own affairs. Some don't pay her any attention; others are pointedly rude to her when she goes to collect money. When the train inspector comes onto her car, the violinist hides. In a moment of reverie, she imagines a kinder, more magical world, where she's part of an old Hollywood musical. Together they sing and dance, offering a vision of the world that's more joyful and welcoming than the one she is in. Directed and written by Michael Lavers, this elegantly nostalgic short musical drama explores both the feeling of being on the margins in society and the beauty and uplift that music can hold for us. Those are two almost opposite emotional poles -- one is isolation and invisibility, the other exuberance and joy -- but they're melded together beautifully in the form of a movie musical here, making for a delightful yet thoughtful experience. The storytelling features no dialogue, but the clarity of the storytelling, richness of the musical score and the sweep of the camerawork and choreography capture a small yet emotionally vivid moment in the violinist's experience. The setting is vaguely in the past, with classic vintage costuming gesturing to the 1930s or 1940s, but we don't quite know a specific location, making for a universality in the narrative. Within the train car, a cross-section of society is arranged, with a variety of character archetypes ranging from a businessman to a group of ingenues to a mother and child, all of whom are preoccupied with their own affairs. They all have a sense of belonging; the only one among them who doesn't is the violinist. The violinist is set apart from this microcosm of society, having to play and then ask for a donation for a living -- she has her heart set on getting to a specific location, but doesn't have enough money to get there. As the violinist, actor Marisa Ricci doesn't have any lines, but she deftly conveys her feelings of sadness at being ignored. As she imagines a better world, with everyone on the train connected by the joy of music and storytelling, the violinist comes alive with the emotion of the music and the choreography, at turns playful, charming, happy and teasing. Of course, the musical is in her imaginings, as far removed from her reality as it is from ours. THE VIOLINIST gets at how the genre is a wonderful vehicle for entertainment and escapism, but also how it captures complex emotional truths through the visceral immediacy of music and dance. When the music ends, the violinist returns to a world where she is still unseen. But through the power of her music and her capacity for feeling, she finds her place in the world within herself, and the joy she's able to access through her talent and her imagination. THE VIOLINIST. Courtesy of Michael Lavers at https://instagram.com/laversmichael.